


We Won't Escape

by bothromeoandjuliet



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-19 02:36:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16525694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothromeoandjuliet/pseuds/bothromeoandjuliet
Summary: Rey gets a surprise visiter and doesn't know what to do with all the emotions.





	1. Come Find Me

     “You’ll never be free from this.”

      Rey’s eyes shot open at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, hastily scrubbing her hands against her face before slowly turning towards her room. The room wasn’t large, heck it wasn’t even the size of a reasonable closet, so Rey would’ve been lying had she said that she wasn’t prepared to be face to face with the owner of the mysterious voice almost the moment she turned around. Her only problem was…nobody was there.

      The room was as dark as it always was at that time of night, (that is to say; pitch,) but Rey couldn’t sense that anyone else was there with her either by using the Force or the slightly more conventional method of using her eyes. There wasn’t even any way that someone had entered or exited the room.

      Rey leaned forward cautiously; reaching her hand out to pull the broken base of her lightsaber to her. She knew that the lump of mangled metal would be useless as a weapon but just the sensation of it in her hand; broken or no; was comforting to her.

     “Is anyone there?” Rey called out, throwing off her covers and swinging her feet one the edge of the bed, feet searching for the old, dusty slippers that Leia had insisted on giving to her. “Is this someones idea of a joke? Did Poe or Rose put you up to this?”

      There was no verbal reply but Rey felt a strong ripple flowing through the Force around her. It wasn’t a disturbance really; just a vague sense that a Force user stronger then Leia was somewhere nearby. Powerful, but definitely not dangerous. Minutes passed with no noise reaching her ears and Rey had just decided that she must have just been imagining things when the voice spoke again.

“Well aren’t you going to come find me?”

      The question was asked with a playful confidence and another strong push of the Force against Rey’s mind, helping her to hone in on the speakers location. They were in one of the mechanics shops; the one where the Falcon and a handful of jet speeders were being stored for safekeeping. What the strange owner of the voice wanted there, Rey could’t guess.

      Rey pushed the door to her room open as quietly as she could, slipping out into the hallway, making certain to slide the door closed behind her. They were in the middle of a war and peoples nerves were, (quite understandably) tense. If someone were to discover that Rey had disappeared from her room in the middle of the night, her fellow rebels would undoubtably put the entire base on lockdown until she was found. Needless to say, it was a hassle that Rey didn’t want to go through; (again.)

      “I suppose it would be considered rude of me to ask what, exactly, is taking you so long?” Snarked the voice into Rey’s ear. She grimaced, tiptoeing as quickly as she could along the dark metal hallways that led to the workshop, doing her best to follow the mental map that she had been building of the underground shelter that had been the Rebel’s base for the past few months.

     “Just as rude as it would be for me to ask why you have so little patience, or why you asked to meet me somewhere so far for my room!” She hissed back.

     The voice chuckled.

     “I could have gone to your room right away I suppose but for some reason I doubt that you would have appreciated that.”

      Rey huffed a little at that, but chose not to reply; after all, she definitely preferred the walk to having woken up to a stranger in her bedroom.

     One turn to the left and Rey had reached her destination without having run into a single soul. Not that she had really expected to, even in the daytime it was rare for Rey to meet anybody here; except Poe on a few occasions. Even Finn only came here if he was looking for her explicitly by Leia’s request. Rey wasn’t sure, but the way that people avoided the place made her wonder if Leia had turned it into some sort of ‘no-go’ zone so Rey would have a place to be alone.

      Rey pushed the door open gently, glancing about her to find the owner of the mysterious voice. A realization of just how stupid and reckless she was being, entering her head for the first time as she closed that door behind her. A sudden lump of uneasiness rose high in her throat, only to dissipate just as quickly.

      Sitting no more then a few feet from her sat a man, his dark head bowed, a dark brown cloak flowing from his shoulders. Rey held her breath, almost fearing to disturb him, yet desperately wanting to discover the mans identity.

      Goosebumps rolled up Rey’s spine, a physical reaction to the emotion stew that filled the room. Rey reached out with the Force tentatively, doing her best to separate one feeling from another. There was vulnerability and disappointment, even a slight twinge of pity, directed, Rey realized with shock, towards her; but most of all, the was sadness. Sadness, filling the air so thickly that Rey could hardly breathe.

      She took a hesitant step forward, trying to think of something to say. Luckily she didn’t need to. The man had obviously sensed her presence and stood up instantly, turning to face her, a half smirk playing over his face.

     “Hello Rey. You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve heard about you.”


	2. An Awkward Third

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey gets a new friend, some pretty HD visions and a therapy session booked for her. What could possibly go wrong?

                                                

 

_“Hello Rey. You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve heard about you.”_

“I wish I could say the same.” Rey retorted. The man smirked slightly and Rey felt her breath spasm in her throat. It was a smirk that she had definitely seen before, although it wasn’t from this face.

“My apologies,” He said, gesturing for Rey to take a seat on the workbench beside him. “Its been rather a long time since I’ve interacted with anyone who didn’t know me.” Watching the man suspiciously Rey sank down onto the bench, clenching her fist tightly enough to sink her fingernails into her palm in an effort to reassure herself that she wasn’t dreaming.

“Well who are you then? What do you want from me?”

“I’ll be answering both of your questions in due course but lets start with the easy one first.” He cleared his throat “My name is, or to be more precise, was, Anakin Skywalker. However, you will be more likely to recognize me by my more widely known title; Darth Vader.” 

Rey bounded to her feet, “What are you? Darth Vader died at the hand of Luke Skywalker years ago, so what are you; some sort of vision to tempt me to the dark side of the Force!?” 

“I’m no evil vision Rey. I’m a ghost of the Force and I’m here to give you some advice.” He gestured for her to return to her seat. 

“I don’t need the advice of a monster,” Rey replied. “Theres not one thing in all of the universe that could convince me to trust you.” She turned and took a few steps towards the door, only to come to a screeching halt at his next words.

“My advice concerns saving the soul of my grandson, Ben Solo. I have come to you in hopes that you will succeed where others have failed.”

_Okay, so maybe there was one thing he could say._

Rey turned slowly to face him, catching a glimpse of her reflection in a sheet of metal that leaned against the wall; her face was drained of any color and she imagined that she could see the rapid rise and fall of her chest from her pounding heart through her robes.

“What makes you think that Ben will listen to anything I say?” Rey asked. “We aren’t exactly on what you might call ‘speaking terms’ at the moment and if we’re being honest, wouldn’t it be better if you spoke to him?” She swallowed past the lump in her throat “After all, you’re his hero aren’t you?”

Anakin gestured to the seat beside him. “Sit here and I’ll explain it all to you.”

Rey complied, her eyes lighting upon a new similarity between grandfather and grandson. A scar, smaller then the one that she had given Ben in the forest, but almost in the exact same place. It enhanced the man’s features almost as much as it enhanced Ben’s and for a moment Rey wondered why the ‘bad-boy attractive’ Skywalker genes had skipped a generation.

“All right, _Ani_.” He smiled at the nickname but said nothing “Say what you came to say and then head off back to ghosty-land or wherever you and all your Force buddies hang out.” 

Anakin looked at her curiously for a moment, sighed, and then began his plea.

“You’re right to question why I don’t reach out to Ben. The answer is verysimple, I can’t. I’ve never had the opportunity to. The second that Ben was; ahem; conceived,” (Rey noticed a faint redness at the tips of his ears and bit back a chuckle) “Snoke set his sights on him, whispered in his ears using my name; turning the things that I am most ashamed of having done into shining victories, fit for any prince’s dreams.”

“But after Snoke stoped using your name…Why didn’t you do something then?” Rey asked 

“I tried to! I honestly did; but for many, many years Ben was far to entrenched in the ways of the Dark side for me to reach him. Even if I had been able to get through the Darkness it wouldn’t have mattered. Snoke kept a secure border around Ben at all times, even Force ghost who were merely Force-sensitive could not slip past Snoke’s radar. There was nothing I could do but wait.” 

“Wait for what, exactly?” 

Anakin smiled, turning to her and Rey unintentionally dipped further into the Force drenched undercurrent that flowed off of him. She was rewarded by a series of images, each one more vivid then the last.

There was a sun drenched dessert, the scent of a hot engine, chocolate brown eyes that burned her from the inside out, searing flashes of pain, hands entangled through dark curls. A bright green forest flashed around her that felt familiar but just before Rey could place it the scenery had changed to a placid lake; a women in a dress the color of sunrise standing tall next to her. She felt arms wrapped around her; carrying her somewhere, only to turn into flames that coiled around her body, metal wrapping around the flames on her arms in a cold interrogation room. A voice, desperate, calling out; “You were my bother-“ then meeting disjointedly with another; “Don’t be afraid, I feel it too.” 

“I - How did you - Those memories were…” Rey trailed off, hesitantly glancing into the mans face. The interactions between herself and Ben had always been that of an enemy vs. and enemy; friend vs. slightly mentally twisted friend but seeing them splintered like that…Well from the outside at least they could easily have appeared to be something decidedly not strictly “friendly.”

Anakin chuckled.

“I wouldn’t dare to try to interpret something as haphazard as a Force vision. All I can say is that after my grandson met you, (no matter how unfortunate the meeting might have been) his Force signature has slowly but surely been transitioning from its darkness into something…new.”

“If he’s changing, and Snoke is dead, why are you here with me instead of him?”

“Ben has, for lack of a better word, blocked me and all the rest of the Force ghosts that possess a high Force signature from appearing to him. Its a good idea of course, even in death Snoke is powerful and could try to attack Ben. The bad side of it however, is that while Ben has managed to keep himself safe, he also has kept himself from most of the ones that wish to help him the most.”

“You say ‘most’,” Rey interrupted, confused “does that mean someone has gotten through?”

“Only a few.” He replied, a soft smile sliding over his face. “Padmé has manage to reach him a handful of times and,” the smile shifted into a grimace “I believe that  Han has spoken to him with little success.”

“Is Padmé the one that I saw in the vision? The one by the lake?”

Anakin’s gaze dropped to to his hands; the return of the soft smile being the only response to Rey’s query. They both sat silent for a few moments, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. A leaking sink in the corner dripped away steadily and the soft footfalls ofat least one of the night-watchmen echoed from the floor above their heads. At last Rey spoke, her words breaking the silence like a mirror.

“I see your problem and I really wish I could help but; this Force bond thing isn’t like a radio. I can’t just ring Ben up telling him that I think we should chat. It doesn’t work like that; I haven’t even spoken to him through it since the night on Ahch-To!”

Anakin laughed, a real, heartwarming laugh, the kind that infected everyone who heard it; making them want to laugh too.

“I may not have a beating heart anymore, or a way of actually speaking with my muleheaded grandson, but I do believe that I’m capable of opening a simple Force bond.”

Rey smiled, then frowned as a new thought came to her.

“You’re not- I mean while I’m talking with Ben- Its not like he’ll be able to see you and…” Rey hesitated, awkwardly rising to her feet. She was unsure that she would be able to keep a straight face if she had Ben completely serious on one side and Anakin making snarky comments on the other. (And Rey knew that he would, he just seemed like that sort of person.)

“Don’t worry,” he assured her “I don’t have any plans of being an awkward third.” 

He winked at her and Rey felt heat rise to her face. The Skywalkers always managed to embarrass her; she could only be thankful that Anakin had chosen to do so with his shirt on.

Anakin had closed his eyes, focusing on opening the bond. The air seemed to shiver around him and Rey realized with shock that he was beginning to disappear.

“Wait, Anakin! What do I do? What should I say to him?”

He turned to her, his form almost completely gone, a smile on his face.

“I suspect you’ll know what to say when you see him, but, as someone who’s been on the other side of this; I would encourage you to be as honest as you can. Nobody wants to be manipulated.” He paused as if he was listening to something, then turned to face her. 

“He should be here any second. I wish you the best of luck Rey; and no matter what happens, thank you.”

The next second he was gone, leaving Rey alone. Unexpected tears rose in her eyes as she stared at the spot where he had been and Rey wondered just how a person like that could have become the monster that destroyed almost half the galaxy. The tears threatened to overflow and the skink continued its dripping.

“Rey?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think of Anakin? I've been looking forward to writing him like crazy and I hope that I did the snarky character justice. Do you think that Rey will be able to get under Ben's skin? Or has she been there all along?


	3. Not Alone Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I started this fic with giggles and ended up with angst. How does this always happen?

 

_“Rey?”_

Rey honestly wouldn’t have been able to say how exactly she had imagined her next meeting with Ben going. In fact she had rather avoided thinking about it; she hadn’t been sure what would set the Force bond off so she had tried her best to think about other things. But now he was here, standing right behind her and possibly still a little pissed off about her rejection of his offer. Well, that and abandoning him to explain Snokes death to an entire army by himself.

She turned, tears still stinging in her eyes, and looked at him. He looked tired, dark circles encircled his eyes and his shoulders drooped if they were carrying a great weight. As she looked at him, Rey did her best to drag up the anger that had filled her the last time she had seen him but the only thing she could come up with was a halfhearted,

_Serves him right._

The hanger was anything but well lit, so as Rey stood in silence, Ben stood awkwardly in front of her, peering through the gloom, concern clearly written on his face.

“Rey, I don’t understand. Is this- Are you…crying?” He took a hesitant step forward and then halted, the blood draining from his face.

“Is it…Tell me it isn’t my mo-Leia.”

Rey shook her head hastily, shoving her unshed tears down into the deep, dark place inside of her that she reserved for unresolved emotions.

“No, don’t worry, your moms fine. That's not why your here.”

Ben breathed a deep sigh of relief, his features scrunching up into a confused expression in the next moment as he asked,

“Then why am I here?”

_Honesty._ _Anakin said to be honest with him._

“Well you didn’t really think that I’d given up on you yet, did you?” Rey teased. Ben shuffled his feet awkwardly, dropping his gaze to the floor.

“It had been so long since we’d spoken, and after our last meeting we hadn’t parted on the most friendly of terms, so you can’t really fault me for thinking that you were avoiding me.” Ben replied. He wasn’t smiling exactly but there was something akin to a smile hovering in his features and he took another, almost unnoticeable, step forward.

“I was angry with you; and I thought that you’d be furious with me for saying no.” Rey replied, matching his step with one of her own.

“I’m not- I wasn’t angry with you.” Ben insisted, dragging his left hand through his hair. “I mean, I was at first but now I’m more confused as to why you didn’t kill me when you had the chance.”

Rey hesitated. She had only told Leia what had truly happened the night that Ben had killed Snoke for a reason; she knew that everyone else’s reaction to discovering that she hadn’t killed Ben, would be the same as Ben’s and she hadn’t been willing to explain herself. But since it was Ben who was asking, did she really have a choice?

“I didn’t want you dead. I still don’t want you dead.” She admitted “I want to fight on the same side as you.”

Ben shook his head, moving closer once again.

“But you won’t come and fight with me Rey.”

“Hey, I shipped myself to you via flouting coffin. I think its only fair that you come to me this time around.”

Ben opened his mouth, preparing to respond when he fell complete silent, his eyes fixated on something behind Rey. She turned to follow his gaze and her eyes landed on the Millennium Falcon.

“Now thats a bit manipulative of you Rey.” He muttered. Rey turned back to him hastily.

“I didn’t mean to be; this is the hanger where its being kept!”

Ben shook his head, speaking as soon as she had finished.

“No, don’t apologize. I deserve to be disgusted with myself. What I did to Han Solo was an unforgivable, monstrous thing and I don’t deserve any pity for it.”

Rey’s brain couldn’t disagree with him but a very small corner of her heart longed to reach out and comfort him despite it.

(Evidently this was the part of her heart that also controlled her body, for she took a handful of steps forward and could barely keep herself from reaching out to comfort him.)

The room was quiet for a few moments and when at last Ben spoke his voice was hushed.

“I spent many years as Snoke’s apprentice and during those years everything that he told me to do was exactly what I did. I would be ashamed to recount to you a quarter of all of the things that I’ve done, on Snokes behalf, on the First Orders behalf, or just of my own free will, and yet not one of them is as despicable to me as the fact that,” he paused, swallowing past a lump that had appeared in his throat “I killed my own…my own flesh and blood out of sheer hatred.”

Rey stood perfectly still, her stare fixed on Ben and her eyes growing damper with each word that passed his lips. Ben lifted his gaze from the floor to meet hers,

“I can’t expect anyone to forgive me for the things that I’ve done Rey. Not you, not Leia, not the Rebel Alliance, and certainly not me.” he stepped closer, so close that Rey could’ve touched him if she wanted to, and his next words were spoken so low that she had to lean forward to hear them.

“You say you want to fight alongside me but I sealed my fate the day that I killed him. The only hope I have is to die fighting for a cause that I once believed in.”

“No!” Rey cried, moving forward once again. “Your fate isn’t sealed till the day that you’re put underground. It’s never too late to do the right thing Ben.”

He had been gazing towards the Falcon again as Rey spoke but as soon as his name had passed her lips, Ben’s eyes jerked towards her, almost irresistibly and as he did so Rey took notice for the first time of just how little space was really in-between his body and hers.

“Do you really believe that Rey?” He whispered, her name falling from his lips like a prayer. He took one step closer; Rey had to strain her neck upwards to meet his eyes. They were so close together, so much closer then either of them should have been comfortable being, and yet Rey didn’t feel like she could move away.

“Of course I believe that.” she responded. “And I’m going to prove it to you.”

“How?” The questioned was asked calmly enough but Rey could plainly see the desperation behind Ben’s eyes. Her eyes searched his face, watching as his pupils dilated and his lips quivered slightly with repressed emotion. She took a deep breath and murmured,

“Well for starters…”

Her arms snaked around Ben’s torso almost before she could think; she pulled him tightly against her, her cheek pressed against his pounding heart. Rey could feel him stiffen and almost could’ve sworn that he was about push her away when she felt a pair of strong arms wrapping around her body; pulling her close in an almost iron-like grip. Ben bent down, nestling his head in the crook of her neck, his breath warm against her skin.

“Rey,” he breathed, almost silently, into her hair “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Rey felt her chest tighten at the sound of his words; and burrowed her chin as far as she could into his shoulder before she replied.

“Don’t worry. You don’t have too.”

A few tears dripped against Rey’s shoulder at her words and she paused to swallow her own before continuing.

“You don’t have to know Ben. Its okay to not know. Just stay here with me here, where its safe, and I’ll help you I swear.”

A strangled sob escaped Ben and tears began to stream from Rey’s eyes, refusing to be held back any more. Her hand lifted, entangling itself in his dark waves, pulling him as close to her as was humanly possible, while she whispered into his ear,

“I promise I’ll help you Ben. You’re not alone anymore. And you never will be, I swear. Just hold on to me and we’ll make it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I completed my first fic!!! I hope that you found have just as much enjoyment while reading reading this as I did while writing it! Thank you for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> Gahhh! So here it is; my first ever chapter of my first ever fanfiction! You can leave a comment or kudos if you like, or don't if you don't feel like it; no pressure! This chapter is a bit shorter then I thought it would be, (who knew that almost a thousand words would look so puny!) But since its the first chapter I'm gonna let it slide. Who do you think the mysterious man is?


End file.
